Duelist Foundation
by Golden Keyblade
Summary: SCPs are getting transported to a parallel universe, causing unprecedented containment breaches. To track down the missing skips, a pair of Foundation agents must recruit a team of duelists to serve as temporary field agents. This is the story of Mobile Task Force Kappa-12: Kings of Games. Part of the Omniverse Event; details inside.
1. Prologue: April 13th, 2016

**A/N: What the hell, it's 4/13 somewhere.**

 **Duelist Foundation**

* * *

 **A message to Command**

 _The worst-case scenario has indeed come to pass. Rifts are spreading across the universes faster than we imagined. Tell Home Base to dispatch all available agents at once._

 _The Omniverse Event is under way._

* * *

Prologue: April 13th, 2016 

**April 13th, 2016  
** **17 hours after initial manifestation of rifts**

O5-8 had lived through a lot of bad days, even by Foundation standards. He'd seen the scientists lead D-Class subjects to their deaths just to shift the destination of SCP-120. He'd seen containment breaches which left hundreds dead, and heard the last words of technicians to their families before detonating on-site nukes to destroy an escaping SCP. He remembered his horror upon first reading the details about what was growing inside SCP-231, and his further horror at the nightmarish procedure the Foundation had created to prevent its birth. He vividly remembered the day he'd been on-site when SCP-682 had escaped from containment; it had been subdued within an hour, but it had been the most horrifying and visceral hour of his life, one which still occasionally haunted him at night.

But listening to the reports pouring in from all over the world, even he had to admit that neither he nor the Foundation as a whole had ever seen a day quite this bad.

"For the last time, the Council doesn't know where these anomalies are coming from!" he shouted into the phone. He was currently on a call with the director of Site-76, who was screaming at him about "vanishing skips" and "country in danger". As if the O5 Council didn't know that the country- hell, the entire world- was in potentially unimaginable danger.

Beside him, O5-11 was speaking into his own phone. He was the youngest member of the council, having been promoted to his seat just seven weeks previously. He had never seen a crisis on this scale before. No one had ever seen a crisis on this scale before. "I don't care about the goddamn duck pond!" he yelled to the person on the other end. "At this point our priority is Keter-class objects: 682, 076, 239, 106, the ones which can and will level cities or destroy the world without active attention. Secure those first and look for the others later."

O5-3 entered the room. She was a reasonably attractive middle-aged woman with brown hair that was graying just a little. She was normally the most collected member of the council, but in times like the ones they were now experiencing, no one could hope to stay completely calm. Indeed, her hair was untidy and there were lines under her eyes from the stress of recent activities.

"Has the Administrator been contacted?" she asked.

"We're trying right now," said O5-11. "Although I can't imagine one man is going to be much help, seeing as the entire O5 council can't do anything."

"You clearly aren't familiar with the Administrator," said O5-3 with a sly smile.

On the phone, O5-8 was becoming increasingly frustrated. "What do you MEAN you've lost 169?!" he exclaimed; he had now apparently transferred to a different call. "The thing is 4000 miles long! There are only so many places it can be!"

"Oh, on the contrary," said a new voice, "I believe there are an infinite number of places it can be."

All three of the council members whipped around to look at the source of the new voice. Standing in the door to the council room were two people. One was a man who appeared to be in his late thirties, with untidy black hair that was already graying slightly and carrying a steel briefcase; the other was a younger woman with shoulder-length brown hair and wearing the standard uniform issued to field agents.

"Who the hell are you?" snapped O5-8, slamming down the phone unceremoniously. He reached toward the button to alert security while simultaneously reaching into his suit to seize the revolver he kept on his person at all times.

"It's alright," said another new voice, "they're with me."

Into the room walked a new figure: a man in his 60's with graying hair and a look which could best be described as a perpetual sigh. This was O5-13, often referred to as "the oldest and least necessary member of the council". O5-13, though a full member of the council, had few official responsibilities beyond those standard to a Level 5 officer; his primary role on the council was to be the tiebreaker vote in matters which required the full consent of the O5 Council.

"This," said O5-13, gesturing to the man, "is Doctor Allan Hall. He's a research director at Site-62 and the Foundation's foremost specialist on extra-dimensional activity. The woman is Agent Felicia Williams; during her time in the field she's handled more missions involving SCPs with dimension-altering properties than any other surviving agent. They're here because Dr. Hall claims to have an idea about what's been going on, and he has a plan of how to respond."

That got everyone's attention. O5-8 turned to look at Dr. Hall, completely ignoring the fact that the phone was ringing yet again.

Hall shifted uncomfortably. "I was informed I would be giving this report in front of the entire O5 Council," he said. "I think it's really something we need full Foundation commitment for..."

"You can give the full report when the others get here," said O5-8. "For now, just give us a brief summary of your findings."

"Alright," said Hall, straightening his tie. "As you know, over the last 24 hours or so, SCPs all over the world have been vanishing into what appear to be rifts in space. They appear near a skip, suck it and anything else nearby in, and then vanish without a trace. So far there has been no correlation in terms of security level, numerical order, or any other pattern. It's as if something is targeting SCPs specifically, but in a random order."

"We know all this," interjected O5-11. "What do you think is the cause of all this?"

"Well," said Hall, "I can't confirm or deny a specific cause, but what I believe is happening is that the skips are being transported into another universe."

At another organization, such a suggestion would have been met with mockery, wild skepticism, or at the very least some raised eyebrows. Not at the Foundation. The O5s and the other members of their organization dealt with the strange and impossible every single day. They'd seen statues that moved and lizards that wouldn't die and a lake of blood that spawned unimaginable horrors. So the idea that the items they kept locked up were being sucked into a parallel universe elicited no significant reaction beyond a comment of "Go on" from O5-3.

Hall quickly placed his briefcase down on the conference table. He opened it to reveal a cluttered array of papers that he had apparently printed out: research from previous Foundation scientists, data charts, files on other SCPs, even some old newspaper articles. Most of the data was incomprehensible to the present O5s, but they figured Hall would explain it soon enough. He placed several of these papers onto the table.

"You see," said Hall, "about three hours before the first rifts were officially reported, I started getting a signal on my equipment, which is normally used to monitor the activity of SCP-579, which is of course my primary responsibility. But not only was there no unusual activity from 579, but the signal was different. Instead of being a strong signal from a single point, it was a weak signal that seemed to have been somehow extrapolated across the face of the planet. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but once the rifts started appearing I knew there had to be a connection. I quickly ran the numbers, and sure enough, the energy that the rifts spat out when they appeared didn't match the frequencies of any known energy in the universe, anomalous or otherwise. Thus, the only explanation is that it's going into another universe."

"And do you have any idea who's taking them?" asked O5-11. "Are there any GOIs we know of with the capability of doing something like this?"

"Not that I'm aware of," said O5-8. "And I highly doubt Dr. Hall here knows of any that we don't."

"In any event," said Hall, wisely choosing to just skip right over the insult, "I don't think the SCPs are being 'taken' at all- at least, not deliberately. If I had to guess, I'd say that some sort of cataclysmic event has created cracks in the borders which divide this universe from others, and now the skips are sort of...bleeding through into the other world. If someone wanted to use the SCPs as a weapon, they would take the Keters first. This isn't an attack; this is an inter-universal natural disaster."

"Then why only skips?" challenged O5-8. "Why aren't rifts opening up in public places? It has to be targeting us!"

"You don't understand," insisted Hall. "When I said the signal was coming from all over the planet, I meant it. These rifts that we're seeing are just the points where the walls are weakest. The real instability is surrounding the entire planet. As for why the SCPs are slipping through, I can't say for sure, but I think it's because of their anomalous nature. For now the rifts are relatively weak, tugging gently at our universe. And of course the things that will slip through first are the anomalies, the things that break our laws of physics, that don't really seem like they belong in our world anyway. They're not as fixed in our universe as we are, so they're all just...sliding out."

"For now?" asked O5-3. "You think that the rifts will continue coming after it takes all the SCPs?"

"Almost certainly," said Hall. "If my calculations are correct- and they almost always are- within a few days seventy percent of all currently contained items will have been sucked through. Around that time we'll start to notice rifts appearing in places with no known anomalies. The rate of materializations will accelerate, until before long we'll reach the point where there will always be at least one active. And then at least two active. Then four, then ten, then fifty, then a thousand, until finally they tear the whole planet to shreds."

"So what you're saying," said O5-3, "is that we're looking at..."

"The end of the world," finished Hall somberly. "XK at the very least; possibly up to ZK or even beyond that, depending on whether other universes are experiencing the same thing."

There was a moment of dead silence as everyone took in the meaning of this.

"You say that you have a plan to stop it?" confirmed O5-11.

"Indeed," said Hall, quickly grabbing some more pages from the briefcase. "I haven't fully refined the details, but I believe I have worked out a rough schematic for a device which can stabilize one of the rifts, converting it into a fixed gateway, a kind of portal between the two universes."

"And you say you came up with this in the last seventeen hours?" said O5-8 suspiciously.

"I work well under pressure," said Hall. "Besides, I came up with an initial prototype some time ago as part of a proposed plan to investigate 403; fortunately I came to my senses and never suggested the plan. I never expected to have such a large-scale use for the device. Anyway, once this gateway has been established, I propose leading a team through to the other universe...once it's been proven safe, of course. Then, provided my team is granted access to certain...assets which I believe to have been reverse-engineered from SCP-2003 and 317, we should be able to begin the search for these missing anomalies. With a bit of luck, we may even be able to find the source of the rifts and figure out how to reverse it."

"You're out of your damn mind if you think we're giving you that technology on faith!" snapped O5-8.

"It is an awfully large leap," admitted O5-3. "This theory of SCPs leaking into another universe is all well and good, but until we have some definitive proof of your theory, I don't think it wise to commit resources, human or otherwise, to your project."

"We don't have time to wait for proof!" shouted Hall, completely forgetting that he was talking to three of the thirteen most powerful people on Earth. "These rifts are appearing at an accelerating rate, and more often than not when they suck in one skip, they let loose several more. We have containment breaches on an undocumented scale. I've read the files on the Ganymede Protocol, and it looks like we're mere hours from having to activate it. Is that what you want? What happens in a few minutes, or a few hours, when a rift snatches up a harmless Safe-Class object and lets out 682, or 076, or some other Keter with massive destructive capabilities? What happens if one damages 319 or 2700, or puts 239 in a bad mood?"

"We're not going to let one man decide the actions of the entire Foundation!" roared O5-8.

"In a few days, there might not _be_ a Foundation anymore!" Hall roared back.

The phone rang again. O5-11 answered it, as O5-8 and 3 were too busy arguing with Hall to answer. As he listened to the person on the other end, his face paled. He turned to the rest of the group.

"There was a rift at Site-19," he said. "It sucked up 131, but dozens more got loose from the force of the rift opening. They're experiencing a containment breach like we've never seen before. At this point it's not clear how many got loose, but it looks to be a whole damn lot, Keters included."

The room was deathly silent. Hall's emotions seemed to be torn between the same horror as everyone else and a kind of grim smugness at his point being proven.

O5-8 turned slowly towards Hall. All the suspicion was gone from his face. Replacing it was a hollow look: horror mixed with desperation, all buried under a mask of forced tranquility.

"The rest of the Council is on its way here," he said. "When they arrive, we'll decide how best to act on your information...and your proposal."

Hall nodded. He had to force himself not to smile, sensing it would be inappropriate for the situation. It was time to put the plan into action. Today, the Foundation made its presence in the Omniverse known.

* * *

 **A/N: You have no idea how many times that chapter title changed.**

 **So. Many. Times.**

 **Anyway, welcome one and all to the debut of my new story,** ** _Duelist Foundation_** **! This story is part of The Omniverse Event, a multi-writer crossover anyone can take part in; check my profile for information on how to participate. Next episode we'll start to see the other side of this crossover and the true nature of the story will start to unfold! Sadly I wasn't able to get those other two chapters ready in time for release. But hey, really, how often does that happen anyway? I think a streak of three multi-part releases is enough. (Yes, three; I didn't actually realize this when I started, but _Calvin's Quest_ ALSO released its first two chapters on the same day. Life is awesome sometimes.) I'm currently still reeling about Homestuck Act 7, so it might be a little while before the series updates; but when it does, I think you'll agree it will have been, as Gabe Newell would say, "worth the wait". **

**Oh, and did I mention to brace for** ** _plenty_** **of pop culture inspired cards? Because that's probably going to be a thing that happens, partly to further the "multiversal collision" theme and partly because I'm too lazy to come up with original card designs for** ** _two_** **ongoing stories.**


	2. Chapter 1: The Challenge Part 1

Chapter 1: The Challenge Part 1

 **Domino City, 200X**

It began with a tournament.

The stadium was filled with cheering fans. On the field, holographic Duel Monsters were clashing as the battle drew to a close. A champion duelist stood alongside his favorite monsters, facing off against his greatest opponent yet. On the sidelines, his friends were cheering him on.

"Come on, you can do it!" exclaimed Téa Gardner.

"Yeah, beat this chump!" called Tristan Taylor.

"I know you can do this!" exclaimed Yugi Moto.

Oh, what? Did you think Yugi was the one dueling? How cliché would that be, to open with the so-called 'main character'? No, the duelist in question was the Red-Eyes duelist himself: the one and only Joey Wheeler.

"Thanks, guys!" Joey called to his friends. "Don't worry, I've got this in the bag!"

"Hah!" exclaimed Joey's opponent. "You wish! You've got no monsters on your field, and my Barrel Dragon has 2600 Attack Points! On my next turn, I'll crush you!"

"Ah-ah-ah!" exclaimed Joey. "Never count Joey Wheeler out before you're sure he's beaten! Did you forget about my Trap Card?"

"Trap Card?!" the boy exclaimed.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Joey. "And now it's my turn!" He drew a card from his deck and grinned. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" He gestured dramatically. "I reveal my Trap: Red-Eyes Spirit! This card allows me to Special Summon one Red-Eyes monster from my Graveyard! And I think I'll choose Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

A dark purple circle appeared on the ground, from which emerged a huge amount of glowing mist. Slowly the mist began to coalesce into the massive form of a sleek black dragon covered with jagged spikes. The familiar dragon's stat screen appeared: 2400 ATK / 2000 DEF / LVL: 7.

"Hah!" scoffed the boy. "My dragon's still got 200 more Attack Points than yours!"

"Are you sure about that?" challenged Joey. "Cause I'm equipping him with Black Metal Dragon!"

He slammed the card he had just drawn into one of his Spell and Trap Zones. A new monster appeared on the field; this one was also clearly a dragon, but it appeared to be more like a vast black suit of armor than a living creature.

"Normally, Black Metal Dragon is a monster card," explained Joey. "But thanks to its Special Ability, I can equip it from my hand to Red-Eyes Black Dragon, increasing my Red-Eyes' Attack Points by 600!"

On the field, the armor opened up; Red-Eyes Black Dragon stepped backwards into it, and the armor sealed up around it. Red-Eyes let out a bellowing roar as its Attack Points grew to 3000.

"And since you've only got 300 Life Points left," added Joey, "my dragon's gonna wipe you out! Come on, Red-Eyes; let's clobber this chump!"

The armored dragon drew back and unleashed a huge torrent of fire. Barrel Dragon struggled against the flames, but after a moment collapsed with a moan and vanished in a flash of light. The boy cried out as his Life Points fell to zero.

"And that's a wrap, ladies and gentlemen!" shouted an excited announcer. "Your winner of the Domino City regional finals is... _Joey Wheeler!_ "

The crowd cheered. Joey raised his hands in triumph. His friends leapt out of their seats and ran to him.

"That was amazing, Joey!" exclaimed Téa.

"Way to go, Joey!" exclaimed Yugi.

"Thanks, guys!" exclaimed Joey. "I couldn't have done it without you!"

"Now can we go get lunch?" asked Tristan. "This place doesn't even have popcorn!"

\- Dividing Line -

Thirty minutes later, the group was walking back home, walking down an empty road through the suburbs. The sun was sinking towards the horizon, but it would still be quite a while before it set fully.

"Man, did you see me at the end?!" exclaimed Joey. "I was on fire out there! Course, not as much as that Barrel Dragon was! Am I right, guys?" He looked around for support. "Get it, guys? _On fire_? Cause Red-Eyes breathed fire at…"

"We get it, Joey," said Téa, rolling her eyes.

"You're just lucky Yugi wasn't invited to compete in the tournament," said Tristan. "He would have wiped you out in a couple turns!"

"Actually," said Yugi, "I _was_ invited to compete, but I turned them down."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed the other three; this was evidently a complete surprise to them.

"Yug, why'd you back out?" asked Joey. "You could have kicked all those guys' butts, and probably mine too!"

"Yeah," said Yugi, "but that wasn't the point! I wanted to give you a chance to shine on your own: to show the world how great Joey Wheeler is! I've won plenty of tournaments over the years, and I wanted you to get a chance at winning one!"

"But Yug, I don't want you to back out just because you might have to duel me!" protested Joey. "If I'm gonna win, I wanna win on my own terms!"

"Get real!" scoffed Tristan. "If it comes down to you versus Yugi, I know who _I'm_ rooting for!"

"Rrrgh, you take that back, Tristan!" shouted Joey, spinning around.

"Why don't you get Yugi to come over here and make me?" challenged Tristan.

"Hey, calm down, guys!" protested Yugi, now seriously worried that this was going to come down to a straight-up fight. He may have been the King of Games, but Joey and Tristan were at least two heads taller than him.

Téa just rolled her eyes, as she did whenever Joey and Tristan came to blows. "I need more female friends," she sighed.

"Joey," said Yugi, "I know you don't like thinking anyone's giving you the easy way out, but…"

"It's not just that, Yug!" protested Joey. "It's just…I know I'm probably never gonna be the best duelist in the world, but that's not stopping me from trying! And I'm never gonna know how good I really am if I don't get to duel the very best- and that's you!"

"I know," said Yugi, "but this isn't just about how you feel; it's about how I feel too. You're my best friend, Joey, and I don't want to risk hurting that. Remember Duelist Kingdom? I had to duel you in the finals, and that nearly killed me! If Grandpa's soul hadn't been on the line, I'm not sure I could have gone up against you, even if I hadn't known about Serenity."

Joey blinked. "Really?" he asked.

"Of course!" exclaimed Yugi. "I know you feel like you need to prove yourself, but when it comes down to it, I'd just much rather be dueling alongside you than against you."

Joey grinned. "Thanks, Yugi!" he said. "You're my best pal too!"

"Excuse me!" interjected a new voice.

The four turned around in surprise. Standing behind them was a boy who looked to be about sixteen, taller than Yugi but still somewhat shorter than Joey or Tristan. He had long brown hair and darker brown eyes that seemed to flash when he turned his head; he was wearing a school uniform similar to the ones Yugi and his friends typically wore.

"Sorry to bother you, but…are you Joey Wheeler?" the boy asked.

"Uh…yeah!" said Joey.

"And you!" the boy asked eagerly, turning to Yugi. "You're Yugi Moto, right?"

"Uh…yeah," said Yugi, not quite sure who this guy was.

"My name's Tozen!" said the boy. "I heard you saying you'd like to duel alongside Joey! Well, I've been looking for a good duel for the last few days; how's about you try dueling me?"

"Uh," said Joey awkwardly, "you do know you're challenging the world champion of Duel Monsters and a guy who's literally on his way home from winning a regional tournament to a two-on-one duel, right? I mean, just to be clear."

"Yeah," said Tozen with a slightly nervous chuckle. "Don't get me wrong, I know how much of a long shot it is. But I'm a pretty good duelist myself! I've won the last three regional finals back home!"

Joey looked at Yugi, who gave a sort of helpless shrug. He turned back to Tozen. "Alright then!" he exclaimed. "If it's a duel you want, it's a duel you'll get!"

Yugi and Joey both strapped on their Duel Disks. Tozen retrieved his own from the backpack I forgot to mention he was wearing. Yugi and Joey backed away to an appropriate distance, armed their Duel Disks, and prepared for the duel; several meters away, Tozen did the same.

"Alright!" exclaimed Yugi. "Ready for this, Joey?"

"You bet I'm ready!" exclaimed Joey.

"Well then…" began Yugi.

" _It's time to duel!_ " the two both exclaimed.

The three each drew their five cards. Status screens appeared, displaying the three players' Life Points. Yugi and Joey both had 4000, whereas Tozen had 8000 as a result of having two opponents. The three examined their cards.

"Tell you what!" Joey called to Tozen. "Since you're going one-on-two against a couple of pros, you can go first!"

"Oh gee, thanks!" exclaimed Tozen. He drew his sixth card and contemplated his hand. "Alright!" he exclaimed. "First off, I'm going to summon Crystal Gem Ruby!"

He placed the card into his Duel Disk. A ball of light appeared on the field, and out of it appeared his monster. It looked like a tiny young woman with a square afro; her skin was bright red, and she wore some kind of leotard. A red gem was embedded in the palm of her hand. A large red screen appeared in mid-air, displaying her stats: **900 ATK / 700 DEF / LVL: 3**.

"And now," exclaimed Tozen, "I use Polymerization to fuse Crystal Gem Ruby with the Crystal Gem Sapphire in my hand!"

He held up a card, and another monster appeared on the field in front of him. This one was another woman, with blue skin and hair that fell into her eyes; she had a blue gem embedded into the palm of her other hand. The two girls exchanged an excited look, then leapt up into the air. Their bodies transformed into glowing light, which mixed together and formed a much larger figure.

"Now," exclaimed Tozen, "I Fusion Summon Crystal Gem Garnet!"

The figure which materialized from the light was a much taller woman. She still had Ruby's square afro, and her outfit was a mix of red and blue; a pair of maroon gems were embedded in her palms. She dropped into a fighting stance and began looking between Yugi and Joey. A purple stat screen appeared next to her: **2100 ATK / 1900 DEF / LVL: 6**.

"Not bad," remarked Yugi. "He got out a Fusion Monster on his first turn."

"Now then," said Tozen, "since I can't actually attack on my first turn, I'll just place one card face down. And now it's your turn!"

"Okay then!" exclaimed Yugi. "I draw!" He pulled his first card and contemplated his hand. For a moment, he thought about how strange it still felt to duel on his own; without Atem giving him guidance, his mind felt sort of… empty.

"First," he said, "I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior!" He placed the card in his Duel Disk, and the robotic monster appeared on the field. Its stats flashed up: **1700 ATK / 1600 DEF / LVL: 4**.

Joey looked over at Yugi. He frowned. He knew Yugi was capable of getting better monsters out on the first turn. So why was he playing such a weak monster?

"And then," said Yugi, "I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

"Hey, come on, Yug!" shouted Joey. "I know you can do better than this!"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," said Yugi, giving Joey a knowing smile. "I'm just starting out nice and cautious. Your turn, Joey!"

[A] That was when it clicked. Yugi was _deliberately_ not starting off as strong as possible. He was trying to give Joey a chance to be the star of this duel. He forced down the rising argument; Yugi had been right. They were friends, and there was no reason they couldn't help each other out in duels now and again.

"Alright then!" he exclaimed. "I won't let you down! It's my draw!"

He pulled his sixth card and contemplated his hand. Suddenly he grinned. Maybe he'd have the opportunity to help Yugi out in return; after all, that little lesson he'd just learned worked both ways.

"Nice!" he exclaimed. "Right, for my first move, I summon Blue Flame Swordsman!"

As he spoke, the warrior in question appeared on his field. It strongly resembled the typical Flame Swordsman monster Joey had frequently used before, but its headgear was a deep indigo and its burning sword glowed blue-hot. Its stat screen flashed up: **ATK: 1800 / DEF: 1600 / LVL: 4**.

"And now, I'm gonna activate its special ability!" exclaimed Joey. "You see, I can reduce this monster's Attack Points in order to increase the Attack Points of another monster on the field by the same amount! And I choose... Beta the Magnet Warrior!"

As he spoke, Blue Flame Swordsman knelt as its ATK dropped to 1200; at the same time, Beta the Magnet Warrior glowed as its ATK grew to 2300.

"Joey, what..." began Yugi.

"Listen, Yug," said Joey. "I really appreciate what you're doing, but I want to show you that I ain't no pushover either! If we're gonna duel together, we're gonna duel _together_ ; you don't need to hold back or give me an extra hand. I'm gonna show you that Joey Wheeler is still a force to be reckoned with!"

Yugi looked at him for a moment. Then he simply smiled and gave a small nod of approval.

"And now," exclaimed Joey, "I'll end my turn with a face-down!"[B]

"Hey, who's the kid?" asked a new voice.

"NYEH!" cried Joey, jumping in surprise. Standing there in the middle of the road was none other than his old crush Mai Valentine, whom Téa had once called "Winner of the Least-Subtle-Name-on-Earth Award three years and counting". She was wearing one of her traditional midriff-bearing outfits and looking on with a bemused expression.

"His name's Tozen, apparently," Tristan explained. "He just kind of showed up and challenged Yugi and Joey to a duel."

"Both of them at once?" asked Mai, raising an eyebrow. " _This_ should be interesting."

"Oh, uh, hey Mai!" exclaimed Joey, awkwardly putting his arm behind his head. "Uh...when and how did you get here?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Same old Joey, then," she said with a small smile.

"Hey!" snapped Joey. "What's that supposed to mean? I'll have you know I just won the regional-"

Suddenly he stopped. He had just been distracted by a surprising sound. Looking over, he saw that it was exactly what he had thought it was.

Tozen was laughing.

It wasn't the nervous chuckle from earlier, either. He had thrown his head back and was cackling at the top of his lungs. He straightened up and Yugi saw that his entire demeanor had changed; there was a sinister, almost maniacal look in his eyes.

"You idiots!" he exclaimed. "You've practically handed me the duel!"

"Well, this escalated quickly," remarked Mai.

"Now then," shouted Tozen, "it's my turn! _I draw!_ "

He reached down and yanked the top card off his deck. He looked at it, and his sinister grin intensified. Yugi could have sworn that there was a strange haze surrounding the card, as if it didn't quite exist in the same reality as those around it.

"This is the critical moment!" exclaimed Tozen. "I hereby summon my ultimate monster!"

He slammed the card into his Duel Disk. Instantly a ball of light formed around the device, flying out and encompassing the entire field, including the duelists and spectators, before disappearing. An immense golden rectangle materialized; out of it rose a vast metal box rather like a storage container, several meters to a side.

"At last, victory shall be mine!" Tozen exclaimed in triumph. "Behold, the monster which shall be the beginning of your end! Come forth, **SCP-173: The Sculpture**!"

The doors of the front of the metal box slid away to the side. Smoke poured forth from the opening, covering the battlefield and making everyone cough. When the smoke cleared, something had appeared in the entrance to the box: one of the most disturbing monsters Yugi had ever seen.

It appeared to be a statue, as the name implied, but it was a hideous one. Vaguely humanoid, its shape was rough and blobby, giving it an unfinished look. Its arms, little more than stubs, were reaching out toward Yugi. Not his monsters; Yugi himself. Its face consisted of two poorly painted green circles in the midst of a splash of red and black, with another splash of black paint on its lower back; the rest of its body was painted a uniform tan. A stat screen appeared next to it: **1700 ATK / 2000 DEF / LVL: 4**.

"Hey, w-what's going on?" exclaimed Joey, visibly shaken. "What _IS_ that ugly thing?"

"That," exclaimed Tozen, "is my ultimate monster, SCP-173! And now that it's been released from its prison, it'll destroy you **before you have time to blink!** "

 _To be continued..._

* * *

 **A/N: Uh...did I say "this weekend" when I updated my profile a week ago? Because I probably shouldn't have.**

 **In all seriousness, I DO have a good explanation: finals. Final exams are absolute madness, and these ones were no exception. Unfortunately, I also can't come out with much content over break, as a result of A) having to study for the Junior Qual Exam (a.k.a. the single hardest thing I'll ever have to do in my academic career), and B) my co-author Meer-Katnip being totally offline for the next couple months. Hopefully I'll be able to find time in there for writing, but you can probably expect a bit of a delay. In other words, business as usual.**


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